Fitch repeats warning on US rating

2011-07-18 18:11

Reuters

New York - Fitch Ratings on Monday reiterated its view that if the US debt ceiling is not raised prior to August 2, the agency will place the US AAA rating on what it terms “ratings watch negative,” meaning it could downgrade it within three to six-months.

Fitch prefaced its statement by saying it still believes an agreement on the debt ceiling will met before the deadline set by the US Treasury.

“Agreement on a credible fiscal consolidation strategy will secure the US ’AAA’ status; failure to do so will inevitably weaken the sovereign credit profile and may result in a sovereign rating downgrade,” Fitch said.

The US Treasury Department has said if the debt ceiling is not raised by August 2, it will have to start prioritising payments.

The only time Fitch put the US sovereign on “ratings watch negative,” or RWN, was November 13, 1995. It was removed on April 1, 1996. This was the period when Republicans in Congress refused to fund some federal agencies, resulting in parts of the government running out of money and shutting down.

A ratings downgrade would have a negative impact on government sponsored entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, other GSEs such as the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp guaranteed debt issued by US banks.

“For each category above, in the event the US debt ceiling was not raised and the US sovereign rating was placed on RWN, Fitch would immediately place all of the AAA issuer and issue ratings listed on RWN,” Fitch said in its report.

Fannie and Freddie, both of which were taken over by the US government when the financial crisis hit a crescendo in September 2008, are considered the most vulnerable to a downgrade or a default because they are both regular issuers of debt used to finance the US housing industry.

The placement of an RWN or RD (restricted default) moniker “may create challenges for Fannie or Freddie to issue debt in the capital markets,” Fitch said.

In June, Fitch laid out a roadmap for its actions, saying if the debt limit is not increased and the U.S. cannot meet its immediate obligations for a debt payment on Aug. 4, it would place that specific security at a B-plus rating, down from AAA.

“If the default persisted and additional payments due on Treasury securities were missed, the US sovereign rating would be lowered to ’RD’ and all outstanding Treasury securities rated by Fitch would be lowered to ’B+’,” Monday’s report said.

After a default is “cured,” a future rating - whether in the AA range or back to the highest level of AAA - will be determined by Fitch’s “assessment of the credit-worthiness of the US government,” it said.

International implications

If the US sovereign is downgraded, there may be negative ratings implications for multilateral development banks in which the United States is a key shareholder, such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Israel has $4.4bn worth of bonds issued with a US government guarantee, Fitch noted. The ratings on these bonds would “move in line with that of the US, though the sovereign rating of Israel (A/stable outlook) provides a rating floor.”

Given the US dollar’s status as a global reserve currency and widespread holdings of U.S. Treasury securities, the impact of a downgrade could have an impact on dollarised economies such as Panama, Ecuador and El Salvador. In addition, various countries that peg their currencies to the dollar or hold US Treasuries as part of their reserves could feel an impact too.

However, Fitch said the firms’ and countries’ exposure to the United States varies and that none have levels at which their own ratings would be impacted.

On the US corporate side, Fitch said there would be no impact on the two US non-financial corporate issuers holding its AAA rating: Exxon Mobil Corp. and Johnson & Johnson.

Comments

Richard Joseph
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2011-07-29 09:40

Is it just me or does it seem insane to you as well that the US rating would only be affected if it actually defaults? To my mind, the act of raising the debt ceiling should also have a negative impact on their rating?! What message are these rating agencies sending to the world and what are we indirectly teaching our children - that the more debt you have, the better the world will rate you?????
Bloody crazy, if you ask me...